Mohammed

Mohammed is a 35-year-old married man with five children who lives in Taiz, Yemen. He has been working a small traditional block factory for 9 years. He was working with his dad and uncle and got great experience, then he collected the money to own his own business. He works hard to earn a profit and improve his living standards. He applied for a loan of 300000 YER from AMB to buy construction supplies for his business.

About Al-Amal Microfinance Bank

Al-Amal reaches out to low-income micro-entrepreneurs and small business owners in Yemen with a suite of credit, savings, and insurance products tailored for Muslim borrowers. Before lending through Al-Amal, please consider the following:

1) Due to ongoing security concerns, full due-diligence of Al-Amal was conducted remotely rather than on-site. This makes Al-Amal atypical among Kiva's Field Partners, as Kiva staff have not conducted an on-site assessment. Al-Amal's assessment included in-person meetings with the top management in other, more secure locations in the Middle East.

2) Because Yemen is a new and unstable environment, there is a possibility that future loan repayments could be held indefinitely in the country for regulatory reasons, even if individual borrowers pay back their loans. As a lender to borrowers in Yemen, you accept this additional risk.

Additionally, all of Al-Amal's products are Sharia compliant and customized for its Muslim clients. Most of the loans are structured as Murabaha interest free loans. Al-Amal purchases goods for its borrowers and charges them a markup or fee. Al-Amal is also experimenting with Ijarah loans (an Islamic leasing product). For more information on Islamic microfinance, please click here.